Just recently it was reported that Naughty Dog is still desperately looking for employees for its next title that will be a cinematic standalone multiplayer action game. It is not yet entirely clear whether a new IP will be created here or whether The Last of Us franchise will actually be relied on. But what is clear is that the two blockbuster brands Uncharted and The Last of Us remain important for Naughty Dog.
Naughty Dog sees a future for Uncharted and The Last of Us
During a recent interview with Game Informer, the bosses of Naughty Dog Evan Wells and Neil Druckmann spoke about the history of the studio and how it will continue in the future. And of course, there was also the question of whether the studio will continue with new franchises after Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and The Last of Us Part II.
In that sense, the Co-President of Naughty Dog Evan Wells said the following:
“I think the easy answer is: both. I think there’s excitement to develop new IP, but there is still a ton of love for Uncharted and The Last of Us, and I think you’ll see both kinds of projects from us in the future.”
Especially in the case of Uncharted, that’s an interesting statement. Sure, this does not directly confirm that a new title will be created – but if there is another, then it will obviously be with Naughty Dog itself.
For The Last of Us, it was recently even said that there was already a finished script for a third part in the series and one only had to see if and when production would start here and there.
But what we definitely know is that Naughty Dog is currently working on a standalone multiplayer game. A rather small team is responsible for this, which was already in charge of the project while working on The Last of Us Part II. It is now a year since Ellie’s campaign for revenge was released and a lot has certainly happened during that time.
Whether it’s a completely new brand or something familiar – Naughty Dog seems to want to stick to their two blockbuster brands. This could rule out that Uncharted and The Last of Us will not suffer the same fate as Crash Bandicoot or Jak & Daxter – super successful but part of the past.
